Reward Refund?

Can anyone help me figure out what to ask for/expect when requesting a reward refund in the following situation:

I used my US Air Chairman upgrades for a flight route from STL-PHL-DUB, however the STL-PHL was so delayed they put us on AC STL-YYZ-DUB but in economy. What they didn't tell us what that the AC was actually AC Rouge economy so it ended up being the worst flight we have ever taken as we had never heard of it and did not know there was no in-flight entertainment, cramped seats and a policy of not requesting passengers close their window shades to allow for sleep (which they claimed no airline does, but I know that is false). So in the end we did make it to DUB just 6hrs late, tired, sore and lost the first day of our vacation.

Anyway, I used an award type that doesn't exist anymore but feel I should get some sort of refund on it but I am not sure what to ask for and what might be reasonable.

Can anyone help me figure out what to ask for/expect when requesting a reward refund in the following situation:

I used my US Air Chairman upgrades for a flight route from STL-PHL-DUB, however the STL-PHL was so delayed they put us on AC STL-YYZ-DUB but in economy. What they didn't tell us what that the AC was actually AC Rouge economy so it ended up being the worst flight we have ever taken as we had never heard of it and did not know there was no in-flight entertainment, cramped seats and a policy of not requesting passengers close their window shades to allow for sleep (which they claimed no airline does, but I know that is false). So in the end we did make it to DUB just 6hrs late, tired, sore and lost the first day of our vacation.

Anyway, I used an award type that doesn't exist anymore but feel I should get some sort of refund on it but I am not sure what to ask for and what might be reasonable.

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Couple of things here:

1. Whether you're likely to see any compensation is going to be dependent on the type of delay out of STL. If it's weather, I'd say there's very little chance of anything. If it was mechanical, you *might* have a shot. But, I don't think it's a very good one since it sounds like you were ticketed in economy and used an upgrade instrument (that wasn't miles) to move you up to J?

2. As a general note, and not meant to sound sarcastic, but we're all responsible for our tickets. If they wanted to move you to economy on another airline, the best thing for you to do is stop the process there and verify what they want to do. If it doesn't meet your needs, that's the best time to negotiate for what you feel is right. Not saying you're going to get a voucher handed to you, but if you asked before walking away from whoever was helping re-route you, you might have been able to find a better opportunity. I don't generally assume that any airline employee cares more about my well-being than me.

Other than asking for a swu/evip to replace the one you used but didn't end up getting the seat, not sure there is much to ask for. You should have maybe been more responsible for yourself and pushed for better accommodations (business on us with another routing?).

How long ago was this? The longer ago it was, the less chance you have. You can probably make a decent case from the perspective of using your evip and not receiving the service you traded it for. I would tackle it less from the perspective of "the flights were lousy" and more that you "paid" using your upgrade for something you didn't get. Under US Airways' contract of carriage, I believe you would normally be entitled to a refund of the difference in fare between the economy cabin and business/first, which in this case the "fare" is the upgrade instrument used, but hard to say for sure as different rules probably apply to upgrades. Remember you catch more ants with honey than with vinegar. Also, if you have another pending flight you'd like to use it on, you could offer they apply it to your upcoming reservation rather than giving you the credit to use at an undetermined time.

Also, you make a few references to the fact that this was an 'award' reservation. If the ENTIRE ticket was purchased with miles, you might have a better case for getting the mileage difference between Y and J/F back. Don't ask for the world though... they did get you where you were going eventually and at the end of the day that's all they're really obligated to do.

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